


One Hell of an Anniversary

by jellybeansarecool



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Adventure, Attempted Murder, Eight & Helen & Liv - Sometime during or after Ravenous 3, Eleven - Trenzalore, F/F, F/M, Kidnapping, Metacrisis 10th Doctor & Rose - On Pete's World, Thirteen & Graham & Ryan & Yaz - After S. 11, Twelve and River - Darillium, more a pg than a teen, paradox eaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 02:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19843912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellybeansarecool/pseuds/jellybeansarecool
Summary: When the queen of a band of paradox eaters needs to consume energy in order to create more demonic beasts like herself she will pull different Doctors and their companions and lovers from across time and space to get the pure energy she needs. How do four Doctors, five companions, one metacrisis, one past companion, and one archeologist escape and make it back to their own times and places?





	One Hell of an Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

> In honour of Big Finish's anniversary coming up I wanted to write a little something of my own that brought some of the different Doctor Who characters together. I would love to see all of them on screen together!

Every year on the same day Rose and the Doctor – yes, he still called himself ‘the Doctor’– would mark the day that the walls between the universes closed. On that day they would make the long and arduous trip to _Bad Wolf Bay_. They would hold each other close as they walked along the water and feel the cold sea air bite into their skin. They would look in silence at the scenery and contemplate that day when everything had changed forever. It was on such a day that life took a rather unexpected turn.

As they held hands and listened to the waves break against the shore a tingling sensation came over them. Looking at each other in horror they saw the bay fade away into a haze. The Doctor pulled Rose close and wrapped his arms around her. The tingling sensation intensified until it felt like their bodies were about to burst into flame. The pain became so great that they clenched their eyes shut and buried their heads into each other’s shoulders. Slowly the pain began to subside until it was a mere tingle. Soon even the tingle was gone leaving only the feel of the other in their arms.

Rose was the first to open her eyes and lift her head. A gasp escaped her lips as she tried to take in what her eyes were looking at. Two suns shone brightly down on a beach but this beach was not the one that they were standing on just minutes ago. Instead of sand and the occasional large rock, this beach was strewn with rocks, stones, and boulders of every size, shape, and colour. Opposite the crashing waves of the shoreline was a thick forest of trees and shrubs. 

There was nothing for the pair to do except walk over the rocks and stones in the hope that they could find some sign of civilization. After walking for what felt like hours they finally came to what appeared from a distance to be a clearing in the dense tree line. Edging closer their eyes lit on a small house with a rich blue door and window frames. Feeling confidence at the sight of the familiar colour Rose and the Doctor approached the lone building. 

∞∞∞∞∞

Curled up against her husband River smiled in her sleep. Her sleep was soon disturbed by an unusual feeling, one she hadn’t felt in all her time on Darillium. Cracking one eye open she realized that it was a sunbeam that warmed her cheek. After a few moments, her brain caught up to what her eyes were seeing. The sun. There was only darkness on Darillium, the only natural light that cut through the eternal night was a small moon and a scattering of stars, that was, until the planet finished its slow rotation and their small piece of the lumbering planet would begin its twenty-four years of daylight. But that was neither here nor now. There was still seventeen years before that fateful dawn so how could the sun be shining through their bedroom window? 

River sat up with a start, her hearts working overtime, if the sun was shining into their room then something was very wrong. 

“Doctor. Doctor. Doctor!” River shook her husband gently and then with more vigour. 

“Turn off the lights,” he grumbled.

“That’s not the lights – it’s the sun.”

“What?!” The ancient Time Lord sat up faster than should be possible for someone of his age. Throwing his covers aside and bounding out of bed he made his way over to the window and pushed open the curtains. Sunlight engulfed the room. Where only a sliver had been able to make its way past the gap in the curtains now the full force of the bright light burned at the couple’s eyes. 

The Doctor turned back towards his wife with a gulp, “We’ve got more problems than just the sun, Dear.”

“Oh?”

“This isn’t the planet we fell asleep on.”

River swore. 

“My thoughts exactly.” Even as the words left his mouth it became apparent that something else burst into his mind. Rushing out of the room in only his boxers River was left to ponder his abrupt departure. 

Getting out of bed the archaeologist began to get dressed. She was just finishing adjusting her holster when her husband came skidding into the room. He snatched up his boots and their screwdrivers while urging River to grab him some clothes and get out of the house. 

Seizing his discarded clothes from the night before River was right on the heels of the Doctor as they flew out of the front door and onto a rocky beach. Taking the clothes from her hands the Doctor hopped about on the hot rocks in his attempt to dress while explaining what he saw.

“There was some sort of shadow creature in our pantry.”

“What?”

“I went to see if the TARDIS was transported with us. It wasn’t–” 

“Oh, that’s not good.” 

“No, and as I was coming to tell you I saw this black inky shadow seep out of the pantry.”

“No, no.” River shook her head, “I meant that,” she pointed behind him, “that’s not good.”

“What? What could be worse than being transported to another planet while you sleep and finding a dangerous creature in your pantry who’s probably eating all the snacks?!” He grumped even as he began to turn to look at what his wife was pointing at. But before he could finish moving he heard a voice that sent dread swirling into the pit of his stomach. 

“Hello! Hello there!”

The woman’s voice was followed by a man’s, “Can you help us? We don’t know where we are.” 

∞∞∞∞∞

The Doctor, Helen, Liv, and the Eleven were running from the Ravenous when it happened. A soft tingling sensation rippled through the Doctor and his two human companions, the scenery around them began to fade away, and it felt as if they were running on air. Liv tried to ask what was happening, but her words failed to get past her throat. After a few moments, the world began to become brighter and more solid. They could once again feel the ground beneath their feet and feel a breeze against their faces. Though the world could once again be perceived they were not where they had been just moments before. Furthermore, the Eleven was nowhere to be seen, instead, there was golden wheat all around them. 

Spinning in a quick circle the Doctor could see no end to the field in which they appeared to be in the middle of. 

“Doctor, where are we and what happened?”

“Did the Ravenous do this?”

Both of his companions spoke at the same time making their words overlap but to the Doctor’s ears, it was just a soft buzzing sound as his attention was drawn elsewhere. A figure had emerged from the wheat and was walking towards the trio. 

“Hello, what’s that?” He mumbled to himself as he started to move forward through the grain. He ran his fingers over the soft spikes of the plants, barely aware that Helen and Liv were following at his heels. It soon became apparent that the figure was a man. 

The man began to run through the wheat waving his hands. His voice was raised but the TARDIS team couldn’t make out his words as the breeze carried them away. Realizing they couldn’t hear him, his arm movements became more frantic causing Helen and Liv to stop and exchange a confused look. Something wasn’t right…

∞∞∞∞∞

The Doctor, along with Graham, Ryan, and Yaz, were on their third planet in as many hours. They were searching for the lost diamonds of Gwo- Gooor- Gure- To be honest, Yaz wasn’t quite sure what lost diamonds they were searching for, but the Doctor seemed to be particularly excited about the missing gems. 

It all seemed to be going as well as searching for lost priceless jewels could go, that was until the creatures descended. There were two of them. They didn’t quite seem to have corporeal forms but were rather inky black mists that after a few minutes swirled into more distinct forms. 

Graham would have preferred that they stayed as billowing clouds as their body-like forms were the things of nightmares. Sharpened teeth; long claws; pointy, almost horn-like ears; and no nose. Their distinct lack of clothing showed every bony angle as their “skin” was pulled tight across their emasculated frames.

The creatures hissed and shrieked at the group while black mist continued to pour off them. The TARDIS team could no longer see their surroundings, it was just them and the creatures. Even the Doctor showed signs of being scared. Graham reached for Yaz and Ryan and held them close as the Doctor stood between them and the monsters as if her petite body could protect them from the swirling ink that filled the air. 

“What do you want? Are you after the diamonds?”

_“We desssire not thessse gemsss of which you ssspeak. We wishhh only to take you to our Queen. You will bring usss many brothersss.”_ Their hissing voices joined the swirling ink and surrounded the four friends. 

“Who is your Queen? What are you?” The Doctor continued to question them.

_“You shhhall meet her sssoon. Shhhe isss waiting…”_ As they spoke the final words they reverted back into mist. 

The black ink swirled faster and faster around them. Their hair and clothes blew about, and Graham’s frantic question was torn from his mouth. Soon they could see nothing, taste nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing apart from the thick heavy ink that threatened to suffocate them. 

∞∞∞∞∞

Rose squeezed the Doctor’s hand as they got closer to the two people who had torn out of the small house. It soon became apparent that they were an attractive older couple, though it took a considerable amount of will power for Rose to not giggle at the antics of the older man as he flailed about trying to clothe himself with the garments being held out to him by the woman beside him. 

It wasn’t long before the woman noticed the pair walking towards her and her partner. Rose could tell that she was saying something to the man beside her who still hadn’t turned around. Realizing that they were now close enough to begin a conversation Rose lifted her voice in greeting. The Doctor followed suit asking where they were and if they could be of assistance. 

After they had covered another meter Rose felt the Doctor’s hand fall from hers. Looking at him in concern she noticed that he had gone white under his thick beard and hair. His bulging eyes were glued on the unknown woman. Rose felt her heart-rate accelerate. Who was this woman and how had she prompted such a reaction from the Doctor? 

The Doctor took a few stumbling steps forward, “River. River Song,” he croaked. Confusion and grief and pain swirled around and inside of him before a feeling of dread hit him hard in his stomach. If this was River, the River then they weren’t just on another planet but in another universe. 

River was about to respond to the Doctor’s broken utterance of her name when her husband spun around on his heel, “Run!” He grabbed her upper arm and started to pull her away when Rose spoke up:

“Is that smoke?” The younger blond pointed at the black billowing cloud that poured from the house. 

Before anyone could answer the black enclosed them, cutting them off from the outside world. Even while the inky mists surrounded them two forms emerged from the haze. They were grotesque creatures that reminded one of the vilest of gargoyles, all angles and ridges, and dripping fangs. 

“This is what you saw?! And you thought it would be a good idea to stand in front of the house and put your clothes on instead of running for our lives?!” River cried incredulously even as she and her husband grabbed one another by the hand. 

“I only saw a black shadow! I didn’t know it would be _this_!” 

Rose’s Doctor cleared his throat before stepping towards the two snarling beasts. 

“What is your purpose here? This is not your house. Get out!” He yelled above the wind that snatched at his coat. 

_“You are perfect for the Queen. Shhhe will be much pleasssed. You are ssswimming with gloriousss energy.”_

“What Queen?” The silver-haired Doctor inquired. 

_“Our Queen. The mother of our brothersss. The very esssenccce of life.”_ One of the creatures cackled as it faded back into the mists. 

The wind picked up tearing at the two couples. Holding each other close River and the Doctor and the Doctor and Rose clung to their partners as the black engulfed them. Moments later the wind died down and the cloud dissipated revealing only a lone house caught between a rocky beach and an impenetrable forest.

∞∞∞∞∞

The man cut through the golden wheat bowling into the three friends. 

“Don’t just stand there! Run!” He cried as he grabbed Helen by the hand and pulled her along. The Doctor and Liv spun and followed close behind. The man leading the group was wearing a vest, bowtie, and a dark purple coat that went below his hips and flapped as he ran. 

Chancing a look behind her Liv caught sight of what the man was running from, a dark ominous cloud that appeared to be getting closer with every second. A second look back confirmed her suspicions, the dark cloud was growing, there was no way they were going to out run it. 

“Doctor! You have to do something. We’re not going to stay ahead of that thing for long.” She spoke to her Doctor but the man who still held Helen by the hand was the one to answer:

“I’m trying to think of something! My synapses are still fried after that unexpected teleportation.” 

Liv noticed that the Doctor had stopped short at the man’s response. A quick look at him confirmed her suspicions. The man who was currently running for his life and looking like a gangly giraffe was in fact, another version of her exasperating Time Lord friend. 

It was only a few more minutes before the rolling black cloud overtook them. It began to swirl around them, caging them in, pushing them closer to one another. 

“What is this?!” Helen cried as she exchanged the younger faced Doctor’s hand for Liv’s. 

“Have you ever seen anything like this before Doctor?” Liv raised her voice to be heard over the rough wind.

“Never!” Both Doctors answered in unison. 

The black continued to edge closer and closer until all four time-travelers were pushed up tight against each other. But the dark inky mists did not relent. They pushed closer and closer until all of existence was a thick black mist. It got into their lungs and squeezed out every drop of remaining air. The cloud compressed in on itself, swirling and spinning faster and faster, smaller and smaller until there was nothing left but the dancing heads of the golden grains. 

∞∞∞∞∞

As the dark mists cleared it became apparent to each individual that there were ten other people in a large cage-like room. Upon further investigation, one observed that it was the glow of the bars that lit the room. The bars didn’t just glow, however, they sparked and shimmered. Electricity could be seen flitting from one bar to another. The occupants of the room looked at each other and at their surroundings. Looks of confusion, frustration, fear, and curiosity settled differently across the range of faces. 

“Would someone like to tell me what is going on? One moment we are being chased by the Ravenous and the next we are standing in wheat. And now we are here. Where is here?” Helen looked about in confusion. 

“That’s what I would like to know as well.” Rose nodded in agreement. 

Graham reached out and placed his hand on Helen’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, the Doc’s here. She’s the best. She’s gotten us out of tighter situations. Just you wait, we’ll be back where we belong in no time.” He patted her shoulder reassuringly before realizing that most of the other members of the room were staring at him in surprise. 

The shocked silence of the room was only broken by a relieved, “Finally!” from a rock-star-like man in the corner. 

Before anyone else could comment on the situation black mists began to roll in and surround them, soon their feet were covered and the bars of their cell was obscured from view. 

“Oh, I’m proper done with this,” Ryan grumbled. 

The figure that appeared from the inky mists was even more grotesque than the previous monsters – if that was even possible. 

“They just keep getting uglier, don’t they?” 

“Graham!” The Doctor swatted his shoulder with her hand before addressing the large looming figure, “Your Highness, I presume?”

_“You are correct Time Lord. I sssee that my children have not disssappointed. They truly have brought me a magnificccent feassst!”_

“What do you want with us?” 

“Good question Handy!” The purple coated Doctor spun about, “Why have you brought us here? I get that you’re probably going to eat us but why go to all the effort to get different versions of me throughout my time stream? If they,” he gestured with one of his flapping hands, “were in time-sensitive situations like me it couldn’t have been easy. And! You also bought these two from another dimension.” His voice grew hard, “That shouldn’t be possible. So tell me. Why us? Why now? What is your plan?” 

The creature laughed, _“Your people are not the only onesss with power. It wasss no trouble for my sssonsss to pluck you from your sssilly little ssspotsss in time. Even the pretender and hisss consssort wasss not difficult. You asssk me for my plan. You asssk me becaussse you think you can essscape your fate. There isss no essscape. None have ever returned after my children have visssited them. You will be no different.”_

“You say we will be no different, but you haven’t told us about your plan. I have to warn you, I have a lot of experience escaping.” River spoke up. 

The Queen moved through the black mist to stare down at River, _“Ahhh the one who became queen. You are the greatessst prizzze of them all. You are full of wonderful energiesss. Every part of thisss Time Lord’sss life you have touched. The confusssion of time, the creatiiion of gloroiusss paradoxxxesss. I will devour you with great pleasssure. You shhhall not essscape.”_ With a final shriek, she merged back into the inky darkness. 

The dark fog lifted. The time-travelers were once again alone, illuminated only by the electricity bouncing from bar to bar of their prison cell. 

“So… how are we getting out of here?” Yaz questioned as she looked at the faces around her. 

“Good question Yaz! Ten points for you. The first thing we have to do is figure out what these bars are,” the Doctor said as she made her way closer to the bars in question. She reached out her hand as if to touch one…

“No!” Yaz, Ryan, and Graham yelled just before her fingers touched the bar, but the warning was to no avail. With a yelp, the Doctor flew backward and landed hard in the middle of the room. 

“A little warning; don’t touch the bars,” she muttered before her eyes rolled back and her head hit the floor. Rose crouched beside her and rubbed her hand looking up at Graham, Ryan, and Yaz’s worried faces. 

From one of the corners of the room where she had stopped in her slow methodical examination of the charged bars River spoke, “My Love? Screwdriver.” Barely stopping her inspection, she held her hand out toward the silver-haired Doctor who in the intermission between the Queen’s exit and River’s request had acquired a pair of dark sunglasses which now sat on his nose. 

Noticing the accessory, the bow-tie clad Doctor scoffed, “Could you look any more like a disgraced rock-star?” 

Choosing to ignore his former self the Doctor pulled out River’s sonic screwdriver from his coat and lobbed it across the room before beginning an inspection of his own. 

River deftly caught the flying scientific instrument before turning it towards the sparking bars. After trying a few settings sparks began to fly with more vigour and size. 

The youngest Doctor in the room sidled up to River as she tucked the screwdriver into one of her pockets, “What did you find out? Is it collecting the energy produced from the paradox of us all being here? Is it storing it as well or is it re-routing it somewhere else?”

River turned to the leather-clad man beside her with a smile, “Oh you’re good.”

“So he’s right? This cage is taking the energy produced from all of us being here when we shouldn’t?” Liv questioned. 

“Mhmm,” River affirmed, “Which begs the question, ‘Can it be short-circuited or overloaded?’”

“You think that we can keep putting more and more energy into it and then what? Make it explode? A fat lot of good that will be, we’ll all be dead!” 

“No. No. River’s got the right sort of idea,” the Doctor said as he brushed his floppy fringe out of his eyes, “If we increase the energy going into the system just enough then it should capture the attention of the Queen and that will give me the chance to put my plan into action.” 

“How do you know how much more energy we have to add?” Graham asked. 

“We don’t!” The Doctor smiled in glee. 

Graham huffed. 

“Wait, but if we get the Queen to come back won’t she just eat us?” Helen worried.

“Your plan better not be some fancy speech. We all know how those work out,” Liv added.

“My speeches are the best, I’ll have you know!” The Doctor retorted back. 

River rolled her eyes, “Yes, Sweetie, but we might need something other than flowery words.”

“No. I’m telling you this plan will work! Right, Grandad?” 

The Doctor looked up from his scrutiny of a certain section of the cell wall, “Don’t drag me into this you floppy-haired idiot.” 

The younger of the two Doctor’s huffed and turned back to the small crowd around him, “This will work. I’m sure of it.” 

“Ok. Assuming you’re right, what do we need to do?” Graham, the ever-practical one, asked. 

“Say things that you shouldn’t know but do, do something that is contradictory or shouldn’t be possible or shouldn’t happen in this time period. Be inventive!” River suggested. 

The collection of companions and Doctors looked at each other and shrugged. It was worth a shot. 

Helen bit her lip and shrugged, “Here we go,” she whispered to herself before grabbing Liv and spinning the other woman towards her. Moving her face toward the other woman’s she placed a kiss on her lips. The cell bars sparked harshly with additional energy. 

“Way to go Helen! I knew you had it in you.” River laughed before turning to the others, “Come on you lot, get going.” 

The bearded human Doctor walked over to the purple-coated Doctor and shook his hand before turning to the other brown-haired Doctor and shaking his hand. All three men started to talk about what sounded like nonsense to their companions. The sparks continued to fly all around them. Meanwhile, Graham, Ryan, Yaz, and Rose spouted nonsense of their own, speaking of facts and figures, places and planets, and men and monsters as they watched the bars glow brighter with every passing moment. 

River bent down over the unconscious Doctor. Brushing her short blond hair out of her face she smiled down at the wife she was never meant to meet. “Hello Sweetie,” she whispered before lowering her face to brush her lips across the latest incarnation of her spouse. She pulled her face away and as she did she saw the Doctor’s eyes flutter and open. 

“River,” the Time Lady whispered with joy. Carefully sitting up she placed a soft palm on River’s face, “My beautiful wife.” Drawing River’s face back down to meet her own she was only partially aware of the violent sparks of electricity that shot around them. 

It came as a shock when after one final bright burst of light the room went pitch black. They had been expecting something but to be suddenly descended into darkness was something that they were unprepared for. 

A whirring could be heard across the room and then the Doctor’s Scottish voice emerged from the darkness, “Grab onto someone! We’re getting out of this hell hole.” With his sonic glasses, he was able to pinpoint where each of the other members of the room was standing or sitting. When he was satisfied that everyone was linked up he grasped River’s hand and led her out of the cell. 

Continuing to lead the way thanks to his glasses he directed them towards a large open room. Lights edged the room allowing the escapees to see their surroundings. At the far end of the room was a large computer-like structure. Multiple monitors were stacked high above their heads with an input board spanning the width of the room. 

Moving closer to the contraption they noticed that there were several ports that appeared to allow the creatures direct access to the energy that was siphoned off the prisoners and transported to a holding compartment adjacent to the monitoring station. 

A spine-chilling screech pierced the air. 

“Not again.” 

“Uhhh, no.”

“Damn.” 

Several of the Doctor’s companions spoke at once expressing their displeasure at being surrounded by the thick inky mist that was rapidly spilling into the room and pooling at their ankles. 

_“How DARE you try to essscape! I will feed.”_

“How can you feed if your paradox machine isn’t working? How will you feed if the energy is no longer being collected?” River taunted. 

_“I shhhall feed asss my ancessstorsss fed!”_

Black mist shot out from the Queen’s grotesque claws, hardening as it spun through the air. The tendrils curled around River’s neck and lifted her from the ground. River clutched at them, but her fingers slid through the black mass. She kicked her feet and struggled but the dark vine-like masses continued to grow and spread up towards her face hovering over her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. Gurgling as the Queen’s biological weapon entered into her body and began to draw out energy River was unaware of what was happening below her. 

_“What a marvelousss feassst! The energiesss isss flowing through me. I shhhall birth many sssonsss.”_ The Queen revealed in the taste of victory while the humans around her watched in horror. 

“Doctor! You have to do something,” Rose cried.

“Let go of her.” The Doctor’s voice dropped low and she had a dangerous calm about her. 

“You will not harm her in any way!” The Doctor River first married had fury in his eyes, those who knew where he was in his time stream could see the rage of Trenzalore in his eyes.

“Release her this instant.” Though he barely knew her and knew that there were many adventures hidden from his memory, the Doctor knew without a doubt that this woman was important and that she couldn’t, wouldn’t, die in the clutches of a shadow monster. 

“Unhand her.” The human Doctor added his voice to the others clamouring for her release. 

River’s current husband, the one who had promised twenty-four years, felt pain course through his body. Not just at the sight of his wife having the life sucked out of her but at the foreshadowing of the death that was waiting for her. A picture of the shadows that were lying in a deserted library. Shaking off the feeling of failure and hopelessness the Doctor gritted his teeth and knew what he had to do. Pointing his sonic at the large machine filling up the wall he quickly shifted through the settings until he found the one he needed. 

In the blink of an eye electricity and energy came pouring out of the paradox device. Sweeping along the black mists emanating from the Queen the bright light shot up into her physical form. Shrieking in pain and surprise the Queen dropped River and dissipated into mist. The Doctor leaped forward and caught River, stumbling under the additional weight. 

“Setting 123-b!” The Doctor cried holding his gasping wife. 

Both suspender-wearing Doctors whipped out their sonics and pointed them at the machine. The whir of the screwdrivers could be heard working in tandem and an instant later everyone blinked out of existence. If anyone had remained to see what happened next, they would have been astounded by the size of the fiery explosion that engulfed the space-station which had acted as the base for the paradox eaters’ nefarious plan. 

∞∞∞∞∞

Groaning, Rose lifted her hands to her head. Massaging her temples, she complained, “That has got to be the WORST way to travel between the dimensions.” 

“I didn’t think I would ever be so happy to see this god-forsaken beach in my life.” The Doctor remarked as they began to stroll towards where they had left their car. 

Placing a hand on his upper arm Rose caused him to stop. Looking at her curiously he raised a questioning eyebrow. 

“Who were all those people Doctor? Who is River? I saw your reaction when you first saw her.”

The Doctor sighed, “It’s a long story.”

Rose began to walk again, “We’ve got a long trip back. We have time.”

“I only know the beginning… or is it the end?” The Doctor mused before starting his tale. 

∞∞∞∞∞

The Doctor, Liv, and Helen found themselves standing outside of the TARDIS when they opened their eyes. Pushing open the door they spotted the Eleven doing what could only be described as _pouting_ beside the console. 

“There you are! Did you think you could just leave me to the Ravenous?”

“He makes you almost wish you were back with that paradox eater, doesn’t he?” Liv whispered to Helen who fought to stifle back a giggle. 

∞∞∞∞∞

The Doctor stood with her hands on her hips as she surveyed her surroundings. They had reappeared in a different location than they had been stolen from, but something told her that the diamonds that she had been looking for must be close. But before she could go scrambling up the cliff face to look in the crevices she was interrupted by Yaz. 

“Doctor, who were all those people? Were they your friends? You seemed to know them.”

“Come on Doc, you can tell us.” Graham encouraged. 

“At least tell us about the pretty blond with the space hair that I saw you snogging.” Ryan smiled. 

“I was not snogging! It was a small kiss. Not that it’s any of your business.” The Doctor grumped with folded arms. 

“Don’t mind him,” Yaz said, placing her hand lightly on her friend’s shoulder.

“I guess telling you wouldn’t hurt…” The Doctor took a deep breath and began to tell her new best friends about those who had come before them. 

∞∞∞∞∞

The Doctor looked up at the burning skies of Trenzalone and sighed. The war had barely begun and already he was so tired. He began to trudge up towards his fortified house. Seeing friends, old and new, had hurt but it had also given him hope that there was a chance at life after all the battles had been fought. He only wished he had longer with them, or that it was under better circumstances, or that he had the chance to hold his wife close one more time. 

∞∞∞∞∞

The Doctor and River landed roughly amid River’s rose plants. Looking up the tired Time Lord let out a little chuckle. There they were sitting in a bed of roses after having escaped being devoured by a sinister alien and their house was just sitting there as if nothing had happened. 

“Basil! Melody!” The Doctor lifted his head at the sound of one of his meddling neighbours. They lived far enough away from the rest of the town that most of the citizens didn’t bother them without due cause, but this particular lady seemed hellbent on intruding at every possible moment. 

“Centurion was in my yard when I got up this morning,” she began, “Imagine my surprise when I look out my window as I was having a cup of tea and see your dog sleeping under my willow tree!” She laughed. 

“Yes, yes,” The Doctor grumbled. He could hardly muster up enough patience to deal with her on the best of days and this was not one of those days. Standing up he brushed off some rose petals before bending down to help River stand and pushing his large overjoyed dog out of the way so that they could get out of the garden bed. 

The irritating human let out a low whistle, her eyes roaming over their disheveled bodies, “Woah, yesterday must have been one hell of an anniversary!”

“You have no idea,” River mumbled as she and her husband walked towards their house with Centurion following close beside them.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading!


End file.
